Fewer Americans view U.S. as world's top country

2014-07-02T15:04:18Z2014-07-30T15:00:42Z

ATLANTA (CBS46) -

Americans getting ready to exercise their patriotic prowess on Independence Day have some numbers to think about: Fewer Americans say the U.S. is the greatest country in the world, according to Pew Research Center.

In the past three years those who view the U.S. as standing "above all other countries in the world" has decreased by 10 percentage points, from 38 percent to 28 percent.

The percentage of Americans who say there are other countries "that are better than the U.S." has increased 4 percentage points, from 8 percent to 12 percent.

When Pew gathered the information using their political typology survey, they found that demographic and partisan components accounted for the decrease in the "America is number one" sentiment.

Republicans viewed the U.S. as above all other countries by 52 percent in 2011. Today, that number has dropped to 37 percent.

Simultaneously, only 15 percent of young people, in the age bracket of 18 to 29, think the U.S. is the best country in the world.

On the flip side, Democrats also have a darkening view of the states' preeminence, declining from 30 percent to 25 percent.

And the smallest decrease (from 40 percent to 33 percent) occurred in the age group of 50 to 64.

It should be noted: An overwhelming majority - 58 percent - of Americans say they believe the U.S. is still "one of the greatest countries, along with others," Pew found.

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